A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of grass cutting machinery, more specifically, an automated machine that cuts grass.
B. Discussion of the Prior Art
As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses an automated grass cutter that travels along a rail or track of an undefined length, and which is supported via fence posts. A drive wheel system is engaged onto said rail in order to drive a sickle grass mower along said rail. The fence posts may include a fence rail spanning between consecutive fence posts for added support. The sickle grass mower extends laterally from the rail, and relies on a drive motor to drive the drive wheel system and sickle mower along the rail. The sickle mower includes a reciprocating blade that reciprocates system utilizes a series of wheels that engage the left side and right side of the rail in order to ensure alignment of the sickle mower when driven along the rail. A drive wheel is engaged against two adjacent guide wheels in order to propel the drive wheel system along the rail. The drive wheel is in mechanical connection with a motor that is seated atop of the drive wheel system.
The Anderson Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,908) discloses an apparatus in which a self-propelled vehicle is caused to traverse a terrain by following a line arranged over the terrain in a predetermined manner. However, the self-propelled vehicle does not utilize a sickle mower that is self-propelled and otherwise open to span across a predetermined path.
The Jonas et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,813) discloses a system for automatic performance of agricultural tasks such as lawn mowing, which includes a ground inserted rail type system. However, the lawn mowing function does not rely on a sickle mower that is guided along a rail.
The Bergvall et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,737) discloses an electronic bordering system, which may be used with a robot lawn mower. However, the robot lawn mower is not a sickle mower that is driven along a rail.
The Pansire Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,964) discloses a fully automatic self-propelled self-guiding lawn mower in which guidance of the lawn mower is based on the principal of a magnet following a passive ribbon or wire of ferromagnetic material. However, the lawn mower relies on magnets or passive ribbon, and not a rail system to guide a sickle lawn mower along.
The Nelson Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,347) discloses a method for controlling the operation of an automated vehicle in accordance with stored coordinate information compared with calculated coordinate position determined from the solution of simultaneous circle equations. Again, the method relies on wireless communication in order to navigate a lawn mower.